Fresh off of accusations that North Korea diverted fuel aid to the military, now new reports say that the cash aid and building materials to North Korea have been diverted for other purposes as well:

In March last year South Korea gave US$3.8 million worth of aid, including $400,000 in cash and building materials, to North Korea to build a center for inter-Korean video-link family reunions in Pyongyang. But North Korea has not even started construction on the site, it was known on Sunday.

The donation violated a ban on cash aid to North Korea, but South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said at the time that there would be no room for suspicious dealings because the North agreed to inform the South where the money was spent and the South agreed to visit the construction site to find out whether the money and materials were used properly.

It has been almost a year since the aid was delivered, but it is not clear what the North has done with the cash and building materials. The South Korean government has demanded that it be allowed to visit the construction site, but the North has brushed off the requests, saying it will show the site "next time" or after the center is dedicated.  (…)

Song Dae-sung, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, a private non-profit think-tank in South Korea specializing in security, national unification, and foreign affairs, said, "The cash aid sent to the North may have been used for three purposes — slush funds for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, funding for the North Korean Army or funding for the North Korean Workers Party. It may also have been used to fund clandestine North Korean operations in South Korea or for military purposes."

On eight occasions from early April to late August last year, South Korea delivered to the North building materials such as cement, iron bars, electric cable, tiles, drills, adhesive glue, interior furnishings, elevators, and air-conditioning and heating equipment. It also sent 10 buses and six Rexton SUVs.

When sending the materials, Seoul demanded five times that the North allow South Korean officials to visit the construction site and provide details on where the materials were used. All such demands were rejected.  [Chosun Ilbo]

I said at the time that the cash would never be used for its intended purpose which doesn’t take a Nostradamus to figure out.  The cash and other aid was given as a down payment for the 2nd Inter-Korean Summit.  If this doesn’t convince the North Korean apologists out there that the Sunshine Policy is a joke than nothing will. 

Popularity: 4%